The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-01-07

ton taken by THE News from the begin
mOusly endorsed.
Major HeaIey on the Fruit Exchange.
Editor OF the PALATKA NEWS:
l think i have as little time for news
paper correspondence as any of your
readers. But the importance OF the sub
ject of marketing our fruit should
call out the opinions of every grower
who has the future welfare of our great
industry at heart. All who are writing
upon this subject seem to agree that our
fruit must be put upon the market with
out coming in competition with itself.
Upon the question of how this shall be
done all seem to disagree. Let me- say,
in passing, that il NJ. Greenleaf il cor
rect in his statements, then the Ex-
change has already settled this question.
1t only now remains for the Exchange 10
better inform the people of their aims
and purposes. Make it clear that Mr..
Greenleaf liz correct, and surely no one
would be foolish enough to otherwise
market their fruit. But, Mr.. Editor, 1
believe there is something else yet to be
done before the Exchange method or
any other method can be brought home
to the people. l do not believe there
will be any successful marketing of our
orange crop until the growers are in sue
cessful organization themselves.
IL you will take the trouble to investi-
n
that there has been no success to the pro-
ducers of any special crop, where there
has been no organization of the producers
themselves. There is not to-day in the
State a good. healthy county organiza-
ton of fruit growers. A State society
cannot be healthy or strong that has not
county societies behind it. All effort Of
the kind 80 far has been aborrive simply
because none of them had any constitu-
encies, and i think the Exchange has
made the same mistake.
Do you not believe that il every county
in South Florida had Fruit Growers So
ciety. with sub-organizations in every
precinct, and all delegated to some gem
eral organization, that our fruit would
be well marketed? Surely it would. II
the Fruit Exchange could make he show
ing Mr.. Greenleaf claims for it, would
tDty nOL every Ouc VI tUeSt SOCIcLICS
upholding their hands, and giving the m
the moral and material support which
they say, and truly. the grower does not
give them now:
L cannot see how these gontlenl en- can
expect to begin at the top and build
down. If they would throw the weight
of their influence IN every county to-
wards the organization Of the fruit
growers, / can see how very soon those
organizations would be giving the bulk
Of their fruit to the Exchange. as a good
business experiment at least.
There is one fact that do not believe
is generally admitted, and that is. as q
rule, the grOicer is Herer satisfied fcith
any returns he may get. I find it no IN
common thing for growers to say, "Well,
l shipped forty boxes to So and So, and
only received $50" Here is a man dis
satisfied who got f1.25 a box net. Only
mourning about his poor returns. He
had received SSl for 80 boxes. Let one
get really poor returns and every man in
the county hears of it. l cannot now
call to mind an instance where any one
ever told of his good returns. That
seems to be a family secret. we'll guarded.
Then again, how many growers are there
who know how much il costs them to
produce a box of oranges? And can
sell his crop for 10 per cent. net on cost
Of production, If he knew what that cost
was? L don't know of one that would
take 20 per cent.
You hear Of growers every year who
refuse $40 per thousand for their oranges
in the grove Very few will sell at this
price. i have never known but one sale
of fruit, in the grove, at less than $40
per thousand. If growers would come
together and intelligently canvass this
matter, learn the cost of producing q
thousand oranges, then be satisfied at Q
reasonable per cent. of profit, l firmly
believe all the fruit would be sold in the
groves They can't forget the old cry
hundred. or even a thousand, dollars an
acre for their crop still haunts their
dreams, and any returns under these fig.
ures seem only hope deferred. In q
word, il our middle-men give too little,
do not our growers expect too much, and
will they ever learn better until it Is
brought home to them by local organiza-
tions, conducted on business principles?
There has been too much talk in the air
We are young yet ard cannot shake Oh
our great expectations, and get down to
business principles. We have yet 20 learn
how to grow. handle and sell our crop.
This we cannot know in our present
state Of chaos. Ii remains for the press
to agitate the question Of organization
until the people are awakened to the
necessity of 1t. A noble work for our
greatest industry.